Gone
by MeowZaa
Summary: Ann's life is falling apart. But she knows that if she can believe in herself, then nothing is impossible. One-shot fic.


**GONE**

**- - - - -**

I'm sorry... please forgive me. You don't really want things to end this way, do you?

I looked Cliff in the eyes. I was sick and tired of running the inn by myself. It's just been so difficult to cope with the environment since my father's passing. And my husband was doing me no good, either. He just sat around all day, drinking beer after beer. I couldn't stand it.

I asked him to stop hurting me. But he wouldn't listen. What exactly does he hold against me? Why am I being forced to endure all of this pain? Nothing is as it was anymore. I'm stuck in this world with nothing but black and white shots. Of Cliff... of me.

"You're a disgrace to me!" I screamed in his face earlier this morning. He just looked at me and laughed.

"_Listen to me closely, Ann_," he said to me, using my name in a bold way.

But no matter how boldy he used my name, I could see that look in his eyes. That look of fear and confusion. He was trying his best to cover it up with his strong expressions, but he just disgusted me.

"Go... now," I told him in my fiercest voice.

He looked at me. "You think it's okay to just tell me to leave? I'm the man of the house now that your father has gone on. You'll never be able to come home and see that apple pie look in his eyes anymore, Ann. From now on, I run your life. You will obey _me_, and nobody else."

Tears formed in my eyes. Cautiously, I said, "If you think you're gonna run my life, then I wish you luck trying to find some strings. Without those strings Cliff, you'll be doing no such thing." I took my wedding ring off my finger and threw it halfway across the inn. All I heard was a short crack.

Suddenly, I felt a hand slap me across the face. Enraged, Cliff screamed, "There is no way that you're gonna get away with this, you ugly bitch! I told you once, I told you thousands and thousands of times... you _WILL NOT _run this place! It's _MINE!_"

With those final words he spoke, I shoved him to the ground, and ran out the doors of the inn. I didn't want to have anything to do with Cliff anymore. I'm not even sure why I agreed to marry him in the first place. I ended up learning the hard way.

I walked the roads of Mineral Town in circles until I finally decided to pay Jack the farmer a visit. I knew that he used to have a crush on me, so I was assuming he'd let me stay with him. I had nowhere else to go but Elli's, and I really hated interfering with her business. She's such an innocent girl, and I had no intention of getting her tangled up in my web of disaster.

"Good evening, Ann," Jack greeted me. "It's way past midnight. Do you care to tell me why you're here?" He didn't look very happy. I guess it wasn't that wise to be knocking on his door well after midnight.

"I'm sorry... really, I am, Jack," I said, tears beginning to roll down my face. "I left Cliff... I know how much you used to love me..." I stopped talking. That was probably the stupidest thing to say. Who in their right mind would tell somebody that after hours when just leaving their home?

As I expected after my foolish mistake, Jack slammed the door in my face.

Sighing, I made my way to the beach.

It may have been the middle of Spring, but I was sure that the water would be warm enough for me to sit in while I tried to engrave every emotion into my head. Things just felt so... ironic. Ironic as in... bewilerding. I felt as though the world was rejecting me.

The moonlight above was glittering, and as I watched it, I finally learned something: it doesn't matter who you are. It doesn't matter where you're from. It doesn't matter if you watch unruly courtroom re-runs every Sunday evening. And it certainly didn't matter if you're on your own.

People learn from their mistakes.

Despite the fact that my father is now gone, I'll be able to press on forward. Hopefully.

The water was warm, which pleased me. I'd be able to dream without much worry now. Slipping myself in, I closed my eyes. Perhaps this was the first night of a long journey. A journey that would lead me home and to who I really am.

My father may be gone...

...But I can see him in the stars.


End file.
